Delightfully Awful
by sdl64533
Summary: A sequel to "Scorpius at the Yule Ball" and it's Valentine's Day! Scorpius/Rose, Scrose, SMRW.
1. It's Valentine's Day, Rose!

Preface

"This is going to be delightfully awful," Priya said cheerfully that morning.

"Why?" Rose asked, as they walked to Herbology.

"Your Romeo sends you those magical flying origami cranes everyday," Priya said, and Rose knew the envy in her voice wasn't a good sign, "And today is Valentine's Day. So, he's going to end up doing even more romantic gestures than usual. He's going to go overboard."

"I don't mind his romantic gestures," Rose said, then felt the familiar ruffle of her hair as one of the magic cranes found her. She caught it and it unfolded in her hand. The first note he'd sent her like this explained that he couldn't always walk her to and from every class, so he'd send these "to be with you when I cannot."

This note read, "Happy Valentine's Day. Meet me out on the lawns that slope towards the lake for a midday meal. I have a picnic prepared. I love you. Always yours, Scorpius Malfoy." Rose kissed the note when they arrived in at the Greenhouse and it folded itself back up and returned to wait outside Arithmancy for Scorpius.


	2. Two Sides

Chapter One

They were not the only couple that had taken advantage of the lawns for a Valentine's Day picnic. A scattering couples from all of Hogwart's Houses, as well as some mixed couples, were spread out thinly across the grass. It wasn't very practical as February was the coldest month of the year at Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry so there weren't that many lover's making use of the outside. It was cold enough for snow on the hills and there were light winds coming up from off the lake.

Rose cuddled up to Scorpius on a magically warmed blanket. Their coat-weight wool cloaks spread out around them, black on black and both fastened with silver clasps to shut out the cold. Rose's black winter cloak was a fitted evening cloak and had a distinctive drape and full, gathered shoulders. Scorpius wore a black cashmere wool cloak with embroidered silver snowflakes in different shapes and sizes that swirled around him. His substantial cloak was fully lined with heavy Slytherin green satin for extra warmth and comfort. The cloak's silver clasp was done in true Slytherin style, mimicking the form of a serpent. Both of their uniforms were completely hidden from view by the fullness of the fabric.

"Thank you for the love notes," Scorpius said, "I keep finding them in my textbooks."

"I'm not as good with origami as you are," Rose said, "But I'm still going to write you love notes."

"Thank you." He leaned in for a kiss. He'd been doing a lot of that lately. With Scorpius it was just an offer of affection and she loved it that way. Scorpius kissed her as if he'd never do anything else, never want to do anything but spend all day kissing her. She'd heard horror stories about guys that held too tight or pressed too hard, or both. It had made kissing sound like an hostile takeover. Scorpius was an excellent kisser.

"My present has two parts," he said, pulling back slightly.

"Oh?" Rose was only a little breathless.

"The first, and only if you're okay with it," Scorpius interjected quickly, "is a foot massage. You're always wearing those high heeled buckled boots. They are lovely, but I've heard high heels are uncomfortable."

"They are," Rose agreed, but quietly, with some trepidation.

Scorpius looked at her askance, "What's wrong? If it's not alright with you I'll understand. Don't get upset, please."

"It's not you, it's my feet," Rose said, pulling them closer to herself, "I have ugly feet."

Scorpius stared at her for a moment, then threw his head back and laughed. Rose glared, even as she thought of how beautiful he looked radiating joy.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't help it. I don't believe you," Scorpius said, trying to turn his urge to chuckle into coughing, "And even if it's true, I won't mind. Why don't you think your feet are as beautiful as the rest of you?"

"They're too big," she replied, pulling away to wrap her arms around her drawn up knees, "I'm not tall, I should have smaller feet."

Scorpius shook his head but didn't say out loud what he was thinking. He felt like she was being silly. He looked at her and saw a beautiful young woman. Her brown and red and auburn hair was falling around her face in styled waves, she dressed her hair up a little bit more these days, and those wide, beautiful blue eyes he loved looking into were staring off into the distance, unseeing. But the look in those eyes, sadness and insecurity, weren't as lovely to him. He wanted her to be happy and even if he thought that feeling this way was silly he loved and respected her. He had to respect her feelings on the matter and wait until she felt comfortable and secure enough to share this part of herself with him.

Rose turned back to Scorpius and noticed the determined, solemn look on his face and it was so different from his usual smile that she was startled.

"Fine," he eventually responded, and then he smiled, "I love you."

"I love you, too," she said, wondering what he'd meant by the first part.

"So, are you going to give me back my top hat?" Scorpius asked, for possibly the hundredth time since the Ball. She had it on good authority he didn't really mind that she kept it. It was still a good way to change the subject.

Rose looked at him from beneath lowered lashes, "What are you going to give me that I would want more?"

Before he could respond Rose handed him a potted herb, Moly, instead.

"The black stems and white flowers are pretty and it's also good protection against dark enchantments," Rose said, though they both knew that from first year.

"It goes with the potted asphodel you gave me for Christmas," Scorpius added, "The petals of Moly are one of the ingredients in the Wiggenweld Potion and the root of asphodel is another. In case I ever needs to awaken a sleeping beauty, all I need now is shredded dittany and Wiggentree bark."

"I like Rowan trees," Rose commented, ignoring the reference to how she tended to fall asleep over his textbooks, "they are so useful. And I like plants. As long as you take care of them, they take care of you." She intended to keep buying him fun potion ingredients, she knew it was his favorite course as hers was Herbology.

"Here is my other present," Scorpius said, pulling out of their wicker picnic basket a box wrapped in Ravenclaw blue and tied with a ribbon of Slytherin green. He handed it to Rose. She took the present with both hands. Scorpius enjoyed the way her face glowed down onto his gift, before she'd even opened it. She untied the satin ribbon slowly and opened the box. She glanced curiously at Scorpius. It was an old-fashioned Muggle pocket watch.

"It's lovely," she said, surprised he'd gotten her a Muggle present. Given a moment, she realized she was pleased he'd made such an effort, it certainly was unlikely a Muggle anything was easy to come across when you're parents were Malfoys.

"It is, but it's also useful. I got the idea from your mum and my dad, actually," Scorpius was very enthusiastic about this accomplishment, "I'm just glad I was able to cast it right, it was bloody awful trying to figure it out pretty much alone. Neither of our parents used the Protean Charm until their fifth year. I wished I had had your help, but I wanted it to be a surprise."

"You cast a Protean Charm on it? Why?" Rose looked at him with her head cocked slightly to one side, which caused her hood to fall back and her hair to fall over one shoulder.

"Well, two charms, really. There's writing on the inside of the front of the watch, see," he opened the watch to show her where the watch had her name engraved on it, "and there's my name on the back. This way we can write each other notes while we're away from Hogwarts."

Rose gasped, "Oh, Scorpius, you're brilliant! I love you, I love you, I love you." His face lit up, especially as she buried herself in his arms, her head coming to rest on his shoulder. He hugged her once, then pushed her away.

"I have to show you how to use it," he said, "Like this, see, you just take a quill and write what you want to say underneath your name and it will appear on my watch--"

"The first Protean Charm makes the inside front of yours change when I write something on the inside front of mine," Rose was a little in awe. This was a N.E.W.T. level charm.

"And when I write on the back of the watch the second charm changes what you read on the back of your watch," Scorpius concluded, very pleased with himself, "I only cast it four times successfully. But it was easy once I got it to work the first time."

"You're the most brilliant boy at Hogwart's," Rose supplied, knowing it was what he wanted and deserved to hear.

"You're the most brilliant girl," Scorpius preened, "so we're a perfect match, love."

"Well, gee, can I join the mutual admiration club?" Asp plopped down next to the two of them, crowding Scorpius for a patch of the warmed picnic blanket.

Scorpius sighed.

"I bet he didn't tell you how I helped with the charm, did he?" Asp said, going nose to nose with Rose as he leaned on the back of Scorpius.

"No, of course not," Asp answered himself, "Dear Romeo, he's a Slytherin among Slytherin, through and through."

"Hullo, Asp," Rose said, "And how are you today?"

"Cold," he decided immediately, "Can't believe you sods are so googly eyed over each other you'd spend a winter's day like this outside. And you! Completely abandoning your best-friend-slave. For shame Scorpius."

* * *

Author's Note: Information (reference) on The Protean Charm comes from www.hp-lexicon.info/ and is quoted below.

Protean Charm (_PRO_-tee-an)

"protean" Eng. able to readily assume a different form, from Proteus, a sea god from Greek mythology who could change his shape rapidly

Complex spell that makes something change form.

Hermione was able to cast a Protean Charm on the fake Galleons the D.A. used during the 1995 - 1996 school year to pass along the date and time of each meeting. The spell caused the numbers on the members' coins to change when Harry changed the numbers on his coin. The Ravenclaws were all astounded that Hermione, who wasn't in their house, could cast this spell, since it's N.E.W.T. level. Clearly none of them could cast this magic at fifth year level (OP19). Ironically, Hermione got the idea from Voldemort's use of the Death Eaters' Dark Marks as a means of communication.

Draco Malfoy, in turn, deliberately copied the notion of Hermione's D.A. coins to enchant coins as a means of communication for himself with Madam Rosemerta (HBP27).


	3. Sweet Sixteen, Valentine

Chapter Two

Rose had elected to wear her Valentine's Day gift around her neck, especially since it made it so much easier to hide it from her parents. She played with it now, pulling it out from under her night shirt and holding it in front of her face where it dangled, the gold glittered in the uncertain light of the shy moon. Her parents knew she was spending time with Scorpius, they'd know that since first year when she and Albus had befriended him, but they either hadn't caught on to the change in the relationship yet -- or they didn't want to catch on, ever. Scorpius had been the one who'd seen Albus's trunk and called him Asp on their first train ride to Hogwarts. Rose and Albus had properly introduced themselves and Scorpius had given Albus a look of commiseration.

"My name is worse than yours, at least your initials spell out a cool nickname," Scorpius had drawled, "Everyone either has to call me Scorpius or Shhhmmmm."

Albus had smiled nervously, "You're the first person to call me Asp."

"Don't see why," he'd remarked casually.

"It does suit you better than Albus," Rose had said, eyeing her beloved cousin thoughtfully, "I know how you hate being named after teachers. Famous professors, heroes, but..."

"Still professors," Scorpius had agreed with Albus, apparently. The two had been practically joined at the hip from then on and everyone who knew Albus at school now called him Asp, and he played the part well. It was only at home where he reverted to a slightly modified version of his eleven year old self. Her cousin played his cards very close to his chest, even she wasn't always completely sure which persona was the truest.

Rose was lucky to have been looking at the watch, if she hadn't been she may never have noticed when the engraving changed in the middle of the night. The new words would fade back to say Scorpius Malfoy if she didn't respond. She grabbed the closest thing she saw that resembled a quill, as it turned out she had an old fashioned writing kit out with a caligraphy pen sitting on her dressers top. She'd been writing letters to Scorpius that she couldn't send, in case his parents saw them, and was planning on giving him the whole lot of it as a book when school started up again.

She replied to his initial message quickly and before she knew it there was a tap-tap-tap at her second story window. She scrambled out of her bed and peered past the curtains, gasping when her gaze ran headlong into warm gray eyes. Scorpius Malfoy. In the Burrow. Atop his broom. Hovering over her balcony. At her window. She could have sworn her heart stopped. She opened the door to the balcony, intending to yell at him as sternly as she could in a whisper, but he stepped onto the tiles by the time she got the door open and then, suddenly, she was in his arms.

She could barely remember why she was upset with him. She'd missed him so much. She'd wanted to see him so badly. And here he was. Where her father, grumpier than usual these last two years, might find him. And hex him into oblivion.

Rose pulled back and slammed her fist into his arms.

"Ah!" he yelped, before she covered his mouth.

"What are you doing here? Have you lost what little mind you had left after finals? Have you gone completely bonkers? What if my father catches you here," all this was shouted as quietly as possible, in an angry whisper.

"Iwote'ere'ong," he mumbled from behind her hand.

"What?"

"I won't be here for long," he repeated, minus her hand, "I just came to pick you up. If you want to go out with me... I have a very elaborate date planned for us. Don't worry, I'll have you back before dawn. Hurry up and get dressed, if we stand here arguing your parents really will catch me here with their daughter. While she's wearing her very nice, practically see through nightwear. What is that anyway?"

Rose turned red from the tips of her toes to the top of her head, she was sure, and then bolted back into her room to put on clothes. When he had that look in his eyes Scorpius wasn't going to be dissuaded. Well, the look in his eyes before he'd seen her nightshirt. Secretly, she admitted she wouldn't be getting dressed to go with him if she didn't want to see him so badly, no matter what line he used. She grabbed the first dress she saw and pulled it over her head, sliding the white, lacy tee-shirt she'd been wearing out from under the dress. Luckily for her, the day before had been her sixteenth birthday and her party dress was hanging rather near the front of her closet. It was a dark hunter green velvet with a scoop neck, long sleeves, banded waist, and gathered skirt that cascaded long in the back and altogether swirled nicely just below her knees. When Scorpius and Rose been discussing her upcoming birthday he'd asked her to wear something green. She didn't stop to consider that he'd probably hoped it would turn out this way. She slipped her feet into her matching shoes, a pair of wedges that left her toes peeping out. They were still painted green, thank goodness none of the polish had worn off. Rose thought the sweet, sassy shoes made her feet look smaller. The green ribbon that accented the shoes, Slytherin green come to think of it, was probably her favorite part.

And then they were off.

* * *

Author's Note: A picture of Rose's shoes can be found here, as I totally stole them from Jeffrey Campbell:

at 6pm(.com) search product id# 7224393


	4. Dancing on the Mist

Chapter Three

As they flew over Rose noticed a large house with a smoking chimney outside the grove where they landed and had been worried.

"We're not trespassing, are we?" she asked him.

"No, I've been here before," Scorpius said, "There's nothing to worry about."

The grass they walked through was such a strong green, she wondered if they hadn't crossed over to Ireland without her noticing. It was wet and the ground was soft from a recent rain. It hadn't rained that day at the Burrorw so she wondered where they were exactly. Instead of asking, she clutched his arm as they walked together. As they pssed through a line of Weeping Willows Scorpius held back a thick curtain of leaves for Rose to pass through and let the curtain fall shut behind them both. It was an enchanted grove, or a grove that Scorpius had enchanted.

The area inside the grove had a pond that was decorated with fairy lights and Scorpius had used candle magic so that a hundred floating candles also helped light the way. The candles drifted upward in a spiraling staircase. A magic mist circled over the pond and drifted up, following the candles like stairs following a banister. Golden bubbles were poured into the pond, a sheen of gold beneath the floor of mist that hovered over the pond.

"Is that an anti-gravity charm?" she asked him, worried. Anti gravity charms tended to look like harmless mist but in actuality would cause a person stepping into the magic mist to immediately realize that the directions up and down have been reversed and that they are currently hanging from the ground over the endless sky. Disconcerting to say the least.

"Not exactly," Scorpius hedged, then directed his wand at the Rhapsodic Phorminx that he'd left sitting up against a tree, "It's more like a floating mist. You can walk across the lake over it, but when two wizards dance over it together... Well, let me show you. Dance with me, Rose?"

Scorpius offered his hand and she took it, trusting him. Together they stepped out onto the mist covered pond while the instrument decorated richly with gold and ivory stood up, floated into the hair, and began to follow them. The instrument accompanied itself with epic singers, while playing itself like an enchanted harp. Scorpius drew her into his arms and they began to dance, gray eyes lost in blue. As they danced they were gently levitated up along the spiraling staircase of mist and candles.

"Why does Asp call himself your 'best-friend-slave'?" Rose asked quietly.

"Hm, it might have something to do with how he always ended up carrying both of our books while I had my wand in one hand and an herb in the other. That was how it went for most of first year," Scorpius recalled.

"Having Asp in Slytherin with me how could I not take advantage? For a while he carried all of our stuff, even my books. He grew a backbone second year, though," Scorpius sounded almost bereaved.

"Told me once that you might have been in Gryffindor," Scorpius said, "What did you mean?"

"The Sorting Hat was torn between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw, but since Albus wasn't in Gryffindor I didn't want to be either and I refused to be sorted there," Rose explained, "So, the hat put me in Ravenclaw."

They danced together, quietly, for a bit longer. Then Scorpius pulled a very small box from his pocket. It was covered in black velvet and when she saw it Rose's jumped, into her throat still pounding.

"I won't marry you," she said.

* * *

_Author's Note: Oh, I know, I shouldn't stop -- it is too short. But then it wouldn't be a cliffhanger. Mwahahahaha! Ahem. When referring to the "best-friend-slave" stuff, that entire section of the story is about a fanart I found that pretty much sums up my idea of Scorpius and Asp's early relationship with each other. You can see that fan art _

HP7: My best friend-slave by ryounkura on deviantART _at _ryounkura./art/HP7-My-best-friend-slave-60783141

_I probably should have resisted the urge to reference the image in my story but this is fanfiction and I am such a fan of this image, I had to share it. It's permanently a part of _my_ Potter-verse. The anti-gravity charm is part of JKR's Potterverse, the misty staircase is my own invention (I think). The Rhapsodic Phorminx is based on a real ancient Greek instrument, the Phorminx, (you should look it up, you'll learn something) but the magical version is my own, though JKR's Potter-verse assumes that any object can be enchanted, there are self-fertilizing shrubs, why not self-playing (and singing) instruments? All other magical charms are JKRowling's, not mine. I use a couple of online Harry Potter encyclopedia's _heavily. _As in really _a **lot**. _For information as well as inspiration._


	5. The Ring

Chapter Four

His face fell. Then his eyes hardened.

"I wasn't asking you to marry me," he said, surprised and annoyed.Then his eyes turned to flint.

"We're too young. I want to finish school, start my career..." Suddenly, Rose caught up to what Scorpius had just said, "What? You weren't proposing?"

"No," he said, his voice like silk, "Try opening the box, Rose."

Rose reached out to the box in his hands and opened it, somewhat reluctantly. There was a ring inside, but it wasn't a wedding band. It was a bronze ring, probably Roman, with a swan engraved onto the bezel. She felt magic from the ring and knew he'd enchanted it. Probably an unbreakable charm, she assured herself.

"Scorpius, I'm so sorry," Rose told him.

"It's alright. I know what you meant, I think," he told her. He paused.

"Scorpius..."

"It's not about my being a Malfoy, is it?" he had to ask.

"No, it's not," Rose said, although she wondered what it would be like -- being Rose Malfoy.

"Your parents?" he queried.

"Well, my father, a little. But that's not the real reason," Rose admitted.

"It's just that you think we're too young?" Scorpius asked. He watched as Rose bit her lip. "Ah, maybe not. Well? What would really stop you from becoming my wife?"

"We are too young, I only just turned sixteen," Rose insisted, "But also, I'm not sure if I'll ever want to change my name. I know it sounds odd to you, but I never thought Mum should have changed her name, either. It was like she lost herself and became someone else."

"You didn't know your mother before she married your father," Scorpius pointed out, "Maybe she was always as she is now."

"She can't have been," Rose told him, "I've heard about and read about Mum as she was before she became Mrs. Ronald Weasley. It's like she was a different person. I asked Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny about it and they couldn't exactly disagree. Uncle Harry said that as long as she was happy that was all he cared about, but I'm not sure if she even is happy."

"She had everything that should make a person happy," Scorpius pointed out, a little annoyed at Hermione Weasley for causing this conversation between him and Rose.

"Exactly!" Rose exclaimed, "Should make her happy. I think that's what she did. She made all of the choices that should make her happy, instead of looking for the choices that actually did."

"Am I the man that should make you happy, rather than the one that actually does?" Scorpius asked, his voice thick with irony and a bit of scorn.

"No," Rose said, "But I want to wait."

Scorpius sighed, "I'll wait with you, never fear, my love."

"Did I make you angry?" Rose asked, hesitantly.

"Not really," Scorpius dismissed it casually.

"Good. I do love you. And I think we should still talk about marriage," Rose informed him, watching his eyebrows wing up again, "We should be prepared and we need to both understand what we each want."

"I want to marry you, whether your name is Rose Weasley, Rose Granger, Rose Malfoy, Rose Poptter, or Rose Longbottom," Scorpius stated, definitively, "Just not today." Rose snickered. It gave her an idea, but she put the idea away for later examination.

"I want to live away from both of our parents," Rose said, "We should find a place outside of both Devon county and Wiltshire county."

"I wholeheartedly agree," Scorpius nodded, "And I want to have children with you." As her breath caught Rose put her cheek to his chest and hoped he didn't feel the burn through his light robes.

"I want," Rose began unsteadily, "to have one child. So we can dote on him."

"Or her," Scorpius reminded his Rose.

"Or her," Rose agreed.

"I like that idea," Scorpius added, "Our child will have plenty of Weasley, Potter, and Lupin cousins to play with if he ever wants company."

"I want your parents to be able to visit us, the same as mine," Rose spoke a bit nervously about this because she'd never actually met his parents.

"If we aren't both disowned," Scorpius chuckled. Rose sighed. In his case, it might be a real possibility. "I want to live somwhere where there are wizards, sorry, love."

"Well, I want to live somewhere that has muggles," Rose said, bristling, "Maybe we could check out Upper Flagley, in Yorkshire. It's a muggle village with a large number of wizarding families."

"Ugh, it's a village. What about Barnsley? At least it has a college," Scorpius made this observation the way some people used the word quaint.

"Lovely," Rose said, "We're finally disagreeing about something."

"Had to happen eventually," Scorpius chimed in, amused, "I just would rather live in a city, like London."

"What about Clapham?" Rose asked, willing to try living in the city, "It's a neighborhood near London and I know at least one wizard that lives there. Or Liverpool in Merseyside, it's a port town."

"That's a possibility," Scorpius shrugged, "And if that doesn't work out we could always move to Paris if our families get really irritating."

"Even if we move to some other country," Rose said quickly, "I want our baby to go to Hogwarts."

"Agreed," Scorpius was emphatic.

Later on, around dawn, Rose lay in her own bed again and held up her hand to examine the new ring. She took out her wand and directed it at the ring.

"Specialis revelio!"

At once the words of the spells cast on the ring in the past formed themselves in the air around her, even assuming the tones and inflections of the caster.

"Repello maledictio! Protego infinitus! Praedico periculum! Salvio hexa! "

Rose smiled. A charm for repelling curses, another to protect her forever, the third to warn her of risk, and the last to reinforce the spells that had come before it. He was quite thorough, her Scorpius, and a bit sneaky. He knew she'd wear the ring because he'd given it to her so he imbued it with enchantments to keep her safe. They were not altogether infallible, these charms. The curse repelling charm was like a thin shield; it would defect childish hexes. The protection charm might hold her back from walking in front of a bus accidentally, but would not save her from a mass murderer. She did not know what form the warning would take but she expected the ring would pinch her, or burn a little; nothing that would truly harm her.

She sank into her bed to sleep, feeling... beloved.

* * *

_Author's Note: I replaced Iterosonomagus (internet-translated-Latin for repeat word of magic) with Specialis revelio which is used to identify the ingredients of the target potion or the enchantments on a target object. (Copyright JKRowling) The spells used by Scorpius on the ring are my invention, except for the last which is -- of course -- one of JKRowling's. It was used by Hermione while Harry and Ron and she were on the run, it is a protective charm or a charm to strengthen other charms (it was never explicity stated what this spell really did, just that it was a regular part of their protective enchantments)._


	6. The Morning After

Chapter Five

When Rose finally came down from her room she found her mother waiting for her at the kitchen table. It was a little after noon and she'd bathed and dressed. Rose wore a new pair of blue dragon's hide bracers that she'd received from Uncle Charlie with the almost matching dragon's hide jacket from Uncle George and an old gray stretchy tank top and jeans. Hermione looked liked she'd had less sleep that her daughter but she'd dressed well. She was wearing something she might wear to work, a black pants suit and a dusky pink long sleeved jumper with a wide v-neck that allowed for the collar of the deep scarlet linen shirt she wore underneath to present itself attractively. Rose thought that scarlet always looked good on anyone with brown eyes but Hermione's brown eyes were tired as they stared off into space. Her coffee was held up near her mouth but it seemed to have been forgotten even in her hands.

"Mum?" Rose's quiet query effected Hermione as if she'd just been blasted; Hermione jumped and spilled her coffee over the table. Hermione gave the little splatters of coffee on her scarlet cuffs a decidedly dirty look.

"Rosie," Hermione looked up, her tone very off from anything Rose recognized, "Please, come sit with me. You must be hungry after being out -- sleeping in so late, really, Rosie. I know yesterday was your birthday but you got a little carried away, I think."

Rose busied herself with the menial tasks of preparing a breakfast and lunch combination for herself. She made herself something to eat without using magic, giving herself time to ponder this latest development. She had toast with marmalade, a sandwich, an apple, and a glass of pumpkin juice. Her mum had probably checked in on her last night to find her gone, she'd have to think of a good explanation. She decided to stick close to the truth as she could: She'd been out with a boy, they'd gone on a date to celebrate her birthday but nothing bad had happened. He was a nice boy, Mum didn't know him, and she'd bring him by for supper soon. The last was mostly a lie. She was almost sure she and Scorpius would remain a secret to both of their respective sets of parents until after they'd eloped, but she could always stall and put her mother off with that for a while. She'd admit that she should have told her mum sooner, that she'd been wrong not to leave a note, and that she hadn't meant to worry her mother and she would never do it again.

"Draco Malfoy paid us a visit last night," Hermione began, as Rose took her seat with a thud. Rose did not have a plan for this development said nothing.

"I was surprised to see him; he and your father may not hate each other as they did but we have never been friends with him. We were even more surprised when he asked us if his son was here," Hermione paused. Rose stayed silent. Her mother continued, "We were shocked when we discovered that you, too, were missing. It is safe to say that Mr. Malfoy's response was something along the lines of disgust. He left, but not without saying that the two of you were probably together and that he would send word when Scorpius came home. After we got that message from Draco I immediately went to check on you, to find you fast asleep in your bed where you should have been all night."

"Mum," Rose said quickly, "Don't be angry with Scorpius."

"I'm not angry. Your father is and it was all I could do to make him go to work this morning as he was supposed to, bad enough I had to take the day off. But that was my choice, you don't worry about that. I do want to know -- everything."

"We met first year, you already know how we became friends," Rose spoke too quickly and rushed, "I liked him for a long time. It wasn't until he asked me to the Ball that I discovered he had feelings for me as well. We started seeing each other. I'm quite certain he is the man I'll marry someday, but not right now. Last night he came to take me on a date, we'd decided we wouldn't be able to see each other over the break but..." She took a deep breath and tried to go slowly, "We missed each other. It was my birthday. He's a nice person, mother, nothing bad happened. We danced together and we talked and he gave me a present." Well, it was closer to the truth than she had intended.

Hermione sighed, "I would like to trust your judgment and leave the two of you be, but I can't let you two get the idea that leaving in the middle of the night without a word and flying off to who knows where by yourselves is an example of good, trustworthy judgment." Rose had her arms crossed and she gripped her arm braces tightly. In the back of her mind a voice told her she was getting off to a good start, she'd imagined her parents would immediately forbid her to ever see Scorpius ever again.

"I've sent your brother to the Burrow for the day," Hermione warned her daughter "As soon as your father comes home the thee of us are going to Diagon Alley to meet the Malfoy's for coffee. I have a feeling we'll all be needing the stimulus after last night. And in case you were wondering, you're grounded."

.. .- -- ... -.-. .- . -.. - -- .-- .-. .. - . .-. -- -. .- -. -.. ... . .-. -- .. -- -. . .-.-.-

Draco and Astoria Malfoy had intimidated Rose when they had approached the Weasley's table. It wasn't anything they'd done, exactly, just the way they'd looked to her. Aristocratic wizards with dark pasts, wearing tailored wizard's robes. The only word that Rose could think of to describe Astoria Malfoy was bejeweled. Astoria was from East Anglia, she knew from Scorpius. She was a blend of Swedish, Dutch, and Norwegian ethnicities. Her face was a strong one, with prominent cheekbones, arched brows, and a wide mouth. She wore an under robe of silver silk with a high collar while her over-robe was crafted of midnight blue velvet. There were hints of purple and flashes of silver highlights. The leaf brocade sash belt had silver cording that wrapped around the back and ran through a leaf clasp at the center front. Both robes had wrapped petal shaped sleeves. Mrs. Malfoy glittered a little as she walked, looking elegant, regal, and mature. Her husband on the other hand, looked somewhat darker. Draco looked like Scorpius, with a slightly receded hairline. He looked older and more dignified than his son, which was to be expected of the man. His lightweight black linen cloak fluttered around his robes. His clothes were the new-old fashion of wizard's robe, a tunic and tabard style form. The tabard was open on both sides, which required a tunic to be worn underneath. In Mr. Malfoy's case, the tunic beneath was black with a high, stiff collar underneath the knee-length silk satin tabard. Silver trim climbed up both sides of the tabard and encompassed the v-neck collar. He would have looked dashing, had he not been a bit pale and thin. Obviously, he hadn't gotten enough sleep, either.

"The first thing I want to make clear," Hermione Weasley announced tightly, "is that Rose is expressly forbidden from ever spending time at, near, or in Malfoy Manor."

Ron glowered, "That's right."

"Oh, dear," Draco drawled, "That does prevent us from inviting your girlfriend's family to any of our soiree's, doesn't it Scorpius?" Scorpius carefully made no remark or expression that could be held against him later, by anyone. Rose wanted to be irritated by her mother, but wondered with a ball of nervous dread in her stomach what about the Manor had Hermione acting so at odds with her normal character.

"Well," Hermione relented an inch, "If Ron or I was with her then it would be acceptable."

"Afraid Lucius is going to Apparate back from Hell, Granger?" Draco asked, appearing offended.

"Hardly," Hermione's tone was scathing, but her cheeks had gone bit pale at the mention of Lucius. Ron, on the other hand, had gone quite a bit darker in the face. Both remembered how Hermione had been tortured by Lucius Malfoy in their anscestoral home during the Second Wizarding War. Scorpius and Rose, oblivious, could only look at each other in bewilderment.

"We own more than one home since Draco became a man of innovation," Astoria sidestepped mentioning events that occurred during the second wizarding world as thoroughly as she did mentioninng that Draco now owned and operated a business, "certainly we would be delighted to entertain any one of your family in another, more amenable setting." Among the elite aristocrats of the wizarding world working for the Ministry, as any wizard would be encouraged to do by his pureblood family, was a far more respectable occupation than acquiring a trade. As an adult Draco had broken the mold.

"Ah," Hermione laced her fingers together on the cafe's table. She thought about mentioning that Ron had also become "a man of innovation" when he'd joined his brother at Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes just to see how Astoria would handle that little tidbit.

"No!" Ron restrained himself from completely exploding, barely.

"Ronald," Hermione took a deep breath. She was often irritated with Ron lately. In this case, Hermione was the one who had been tortured. Why was she the one who felt more willing to compromise and forgive? Why did she have to manage her husband on top of working through her own tangled emotions? This was important to Rose and if the two of them didn't support their daughter while at the same time trying to protect her as best they could, then they wouldn't be acting like very good parents. Hermione was determined to do what was best for Rose.

"We would be more than happy to allow Rose to visit with your family as long as those visits are supervised by at least one parent," Hermione decided, "Also, we do not wish for her to be exposed to any less than savory elements."

"As a family we have consciously moved to disassociate ourselves from the elements of wizarding society that you are referring to, Mrs. Weasley," Astoria said firmly. Rose noticed Draco start when Astoria had called her mother Mrs. Weasley. Rose felt a tenuous, one-sided comraderie with him after that. She wondered if he'd known her mother as the person she had been before she'd married, despite being schoolyard enemies during their Hogwart's years. She intended to ask him about that if she ever got the chance.

"It's true," Draco said, although trying to reassure Granger and the Weasle wasn't his cup of tea. "Things are different. The old schoolyard grudges of the past should be set aside."


	7. An Ending and a Beginning

Chapter Six

Rose had been grounded for the rest of school break. She was grateful that her birthday was in late August and she was even happier that Hermione had convinced Ron to allow her the Hogsmeade trips during the school year. She didn't know what they would do with her over the break or once the school year was over, but she didn't have to think about it for a few months. All around, Rose had a lot to be happy about -- things could have gone so much worse. As Scorpius came up behind her to take her hand and walk her to Divination she breathed a sigh of relief. It was all going to work itself out; everything was going to be okay.

.. .- -- ... -.-. .- . -.. - -- .-- .-. .. - . .-. -- -. .- -. -.. ... . .-. -- .. -- -. . .-.-.-

Epilogue: One Year Later

"Rose?"

"Rose?"

"Rose!"

He barely heard her whispered response, couldn't make it out, but he pulled back some of the curtain created by the Weeping Willows to find Rose crouched and holding herself, shaking. The light of the moon was thin and obscured but there were fireflies flittering about the greenery. It was loud out tonight, another reason why he hadn't been able to find Rose at first -- despite the sounds of her weeping. He felt a tearing in his chest. It was hard to hear her with the tree frogs, cicadas, and Merlin only knew what else was in the trees tonight, but now that he had heard he wouldn't soon forget what it sounded like to hear her heart break. It was dark, Rose held herself tight and small, and her clothing didn't do much to make her easy to see, all in all. She wore a brown cropped military style jacket and brilliant red, long turtleneck with brown slacks. He bent forward to touch Rose's shoulder.

One hand, her right, came up from her knees to cover the hand he'd layed on her left shoulder. Other than that, nothing changed. After several long moments where he simply let her know he was there for her he felt the first drop of rain on his face.

"Bloody, buggering hell," he grumbled under his breath. He slowly drew his hand away from her shoulder and quickly, quietly, retrieved an umbrella from the house. He came back to find that Rose had laid herself back, head resting against the trunk of the Weeping Willow. She'd fallen asleep with tear tracks running down her face. This time he crouched, holding the umbrella out over her head. This last all of six minutes before his arm cramped up.

"Lovely," he muttered, rubbing the sore muscle. Soon, his designer wizarding robes would be soaked and ruined, as would the lovely clothes Rose wore, and they would both catch cold. He shook his head roughly, his long, white blonde hair already wet enough to shake the water out of it. Seeing no other choice, he made up his mind.

"Acio Firestorm!" It would be difficult to carry Rose back to Malfoy Manor on the broom as dead weight, so he pointed his wand at her and cast a gripping charm and a lightening spell on her to make their travel easier. After that it was easy to lift Rose up into his arms, ease them both onto his broom, and make his way back home. She could stay with him and his family as long as she wanted to be with him or at least until she adjusted to having divorced parents and decided where else she wanted to live.

Briefly he wondered about Clapham, near London. Now that they were both seventeen...


End file.
